Can Britain's Trident submarine destroy 40 Russian cities?

Agreeing with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's statement that Russia should fear Britain's submarine-based nuclear deterrent 'Trident', a retired Royal Navy Rear Admiral has stated that the missiles were indeed capable of destroying 40 Russian cities.

Starmer during a visit to greet the return of British Navy ship HMS Vanguard after its 200 days in the sea, warned the Kremlin on Wednesday of the new weapon. "I think they appreciate our capability. What is obviously important is that they appreciate that it is what it is, which is a credible capability,” the Prime Minister said.

While many were apprehensive about Trident's capacity, a retired Royal Navy official, Rear Admiral Chris Parry, completely agrees with the Prime Minister. "One Trident submarine has the ability to incinerate 40 Russian cities very quickly. That is a lot of food for thought for Putin and that should make any world leader fearful," he told The Telegraph.

Britain's Trident programme consists of four submarines HMS Vanguard, Victorious, Vigilant and Vengeance. Each submarine can carry up to 16 ballistic missiles and each piece is loaded with 12 independently targeted warheads. This meant that a single vessel could potentially deliver 192 warheads in a single volley.

"Putin knows what Trident submarines can deliver and that is something he has to factor into all of his calculations when he is provoking the West,” says Rear-Adml Parry. He added that Russian air defence systems were not that great. "Russia is also the largest country on earth – it is impossible to defend against a ballistic missile attack," he added.

The missiles have a range of 6,500 nautical miles and each has a speed of around Mach 19 – more than 13,000 miles an hour. This means that it would only take 30 minutes for the missile to hit the targets, including Moscow, depending on whether the submarine is based.

That said, things aren't too good for the British Navy with regard to the Trident. Recently, the submarines suffered two recent missile test failures. In January 2024 a test firing from HMS Vanguard failed after the weapon failed to launch properly and crashed into the sea. The Ministry of Defence, however, described the incident as an "anomaly". In 2016, a Trident missile test from HMS Vengeance also failed.

The age of the fleet is also a concern with the oldest one commissioned in 1993 and the last one in 1999.  

However, Admiral Parry thinks the missiles are still very capable. "There have been problems but it is important not to overplay these events. The missile firings, for example, were about testing the launch process – there was too much focus on the missiles failing. Yes they are old, but they are still very capable," he said.